Too Many Top Priorities?

Senior executives and CEOs often clash over top priorities, especially when businesses have too many of them, according to a survey by Oakland, Calif.-based business advisory firm Dissero Partners.

In a poll of 115 senior executives nationwide, more than half said they felt their bosses were out of the loop on business goals, creating a gap in perceived priorities.

While CEOs often prioritize top-level growth and execution, senior executives are more concerned with a lack of alignment and focus within the company, among other issues, the survey found.

"What CEOs see as a lack of execution is more likely a symptom. The root cause is a combination of too many initiatives being called out as top priorities and lack of alignment across organizational boundaries," Michael Kanazawa, a chief executive at Dissero Partners, said in a statement.

He said businesses risk being inefficient when CEOs and their executives don't see eye-to-eye.